Safer Travel Launch ‘What Could I Do’ Video

·       Safer Travel have launched an educational video designed to make travelling on public transport even safer.

·       The video provides advice, especially for women and girls, on how to deal with unwanted behaviour on the transport network.

·       The video is designed to encourage witnesses of violence to become upstanders. 

The Safer Travel Partnership has launched a thought-provoking set of three short safety films “What Could I Do?” to educate about awareness, upstanding and action.

 The Safer Travel Partnership has launched three short films designed to highlight the lived experience of women and girls on the public transport network and encourage greater reporting of behaviours that women and girls usually normalise or minimise but affect the way they travel.  The films are based on real life scenarios reported to the Safer Travel policing team and each film shows escalating and unwanted behaviours that many female and vulnerable passengers will recognise.

The films aim to empower passengers by showing how small actions can make a significant difference. They highlight three key messages:

Recognise – Many behaviours that make women feel unsafe are not “minor” and should not be ignored.

Report – Any behaviour that causes concern should be reported, whether to, police, See Something Say Something by texting 81018 or make transport staff aware.

Upstand – Fellow passengers can play a crucial role in helping others feel safe by offering support, distraction, or intervention when appropriate.

Paula Shortland, Education Officer said “We know that women and girls (and any vulnerable person) experience the public transport network differently, we plan our journeys with safety in mind, we send text messages with arrival times, we hold our keys a little tighter or we choose a different carriage or seat because something doesn’t feel right.  These moments don’t make headlines as they are subtle and easily dismissed – but they add up and shape how we travel.

“These films show what is possible when policing and transport come together because safety is not just a police issue – it’s everyone’s responsibility. 

“We will be sharing these films across the West Midlands and they will also be used for workshops in schools/organisations.  We want them to start conversations, to make people think twice and to give anyone who has ever asked themselves – ‘Is this worth reporting?’

 Because the answer is YES always YES”.

The Safer Travel Policing Partnership remains committed to creating a safer and welcoming transport environment for everyone. The intelligence gathered from reports—large or small—plays a crucial role in shaping patrols, improving infrastructure, and delivering targeted interventions so we encourage all passengers to report any behaviour that affects their journey by texting our SeeSay text service with all the details on 81018. 

Watch the video here and If you would like to know more about the films or our work please Paula would be happy to speak to you – paula.shortland@westmidlands.police.uk